BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Foreign Ministry urged Mali to hold an independent investigation into reports that its armed forces killed large numbers of civilians there with Russian military assistance over the past week.
“Mali’s General Staff mentioned no civilian victims in its report of the operation,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Tuesday. “That is contradicted by possible witness statements that mention targeted killing of civilians.”
Mali’s military on Saturday said it had killed over 200 Islamist militants, though rights groups expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the West African country. Tensions with the West have increased since a move by Mali’s ruling military junta to delay democratic elections in February.
(Reporting by Alexander Ratz, writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
